Starter gym kit ideas for a 16-year-old beginning weights and swimming

[Ladyofleisure26]

My 16 year old has asked for a gym membership for his birthday which I am obliging with however I wanted to get him a bag and have it ready to go as something tangilble to have also. What do I need for this? I am not a gym person myself so not a clue where to start. He will be doing weights and machines and there is also a pool where he is going. I am basically looking for a starter kit so he is ready to go!

liquid chalk
lifting straps
water bottle
padlock
googles
lifting belt (might be better to wait for this and see if he wants / which one, I just have the basic RDX one)
ankle straps for cables?
gym kit - shorts / t shirt / swimming trunks
headphones

As a beginner to weights myself I would say he doesn't need chalk, straps or a belt just yet (as far as I know those are mostly used for free weights rather than machines and aren't necessary for beginners anyway, I might be wrong). A pair of gloves is useful to have though as gripping handles/bars too hard can hurt your hands, a microfibre/compact towel is very useful for wiping down machines. Padlock depends what kind of lockers the gym has, a pound coin token might be more useful. Water bottle good shout, the kids are very into their 'pre workout' creatine drinks and post workout protein shakes so you could get him a flask as well with some sachets or powders or whatever.

Does he already have gym wear and swimming trunks, appropriate footwear (you can wear any trainers to the gym but my trainer recently recommended I get some special weightlifting ones as running shoes are more cushioned where for weights you want the feet flat)? Depending on how much you want to spend, a nice hoodie is good to have to warm back up once you're finished your session but I know teens are fussy about brands often. I expect he's already got headphone/earbuds. A nice gift could be a smartwatch to track workouts but a good one probably more than you want to spend so maybe keep that back for a future gift?

water bottle
protein shake bottle if he's into that stuff
sweat towels
padlock for locker if they use them (some use £1 coins, others have a band thing)
beach towel for swimming or showers
sliders for pool side & showers
wash bag for toiletries
swimming goggles
sports socks
shorts & t-shirts

I would say no to the gloves because it will prevent him building up the callouses he needs for it.

Some of the lockers don't take a coin or tokens so he would be better with a combination padlock. You could phone the gym to check.

For showering a Turkish hammam towel is brilliant, they take up hardly any space in a kit bag but are super absorbent and fast drying.

Mini bottles to decant shampoo etc into, save carrying big bottles.

Wet bag (is that what they're called?) for wet swimming trunks

Belt I think wait but my 16 YO and 20 YO uses straps and chalk. If he wants to deadlift he will want quite soon and not expensive. I don’t recommend gloves, I have but neither of my DS will use doesn’t help grip and better to get the callouses!
I bought older DS leather lifting belt as 18th birthday present.
agree creatine tablets (Amazon or myprotein) and protein shake I just got DS a sample pack of the Myprotein clear whey shakes great for gym bag.

Glutamine too!

Thanks all so much I have a list ready to head off out today :)